Mother Dearest
by fluffyandkagura
Summary: Arthur's judgmental mother comes to town and he plans to take her to dinner. The only problem is his lack of girlfriend. Ariadne is happy to fill in, and by the end of the night, they might not be pretending anymore. T for kissing, full summary inside
1. Preparations

Summary- Arthur's judgmental mother comes to town and he plans to take her to dinner. The only problem is his lack of girlfriend. Ariadne is happy to fill in, and by the end of the night, they might not be pretending anymore. Rated T for kissing scenes. Hopefully this ends fluffy but has some meat to it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inception!

A/N- Been working on this one since before school started and finally I get some time to post it! I'm really excited for this one because I like how it turned out. PLEASE review because I really want feedback from this one. I have all the chapter done on this story, but I really want to upload it one chapter at a time because I feel like there's nice logical breaks between each section. There will ONLY BE THREE CHAPTERS. Just letting you all know that know :D

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It was a quiet Wednesday in the warehouse that day. Everyone had a job to do, and they were all busy at work doing it. No one had much to say to anyone else, and for the first few hours, Ariadne had to remind herself that she wasn't the only one if the office. This is why it surprised Ariadne so much when Arthur walked over to her station and sat down on her desk. She looked up from her model, and saw him sitting there.

"Can I help you?" she asked in mock annoyance. It really didn't bother her, but she liked to pretend that it was a huge inconvenience whenever Arthur needed something. It was a joke they shared, and she expected Arthur to roll his eyes and smile slightly like he usually did. Today, however, he looked worried and rather annoyed.

"Ariadne, you know that I would never ask you to do something I didn't think you should have to do unless I really, really needed you, right?" he asked. She lifted an eyebrow. Arthur wasn't usually one to ramble.

"Yes…?" it was a statement but also a question. He sighed and continued.

"My…mother is coming to town. I'm taking her to dinner tonight and it would mean a lot to me if you would come with us," he spoke quietly. Ariadne was intrigued.

"Why do you need me?"She asked him. The man in front of her was the point man. He barely ever needed help from anyone, and yet here he was asking for her help. Once again he sighed, and ran his hand through his hair mussing it a little bit.

"My mother is somewhat of a perfectionist. She wants the best for me, but of course, on her own terms. Which, apparently, includes a girlfriend. Something I happen to lack," He finished. Ariadne's face contorted into a smile and she willed herself not to laugh.

"Let me see if I understand. You need me to pretend to be your girlfriend so you can impress your mother?" she clarified. He nodded and gave a small smile.

"It sounds pretty stupid. But yes. That's the gist of it." He replied. At this, she finally allowed herself to laugh. After composing herself, she spoke again.

"I'm sorry. I'm done now. Yes Arthur, I would love to be your date tonight," she told him. He smiled.

"Thank you Ariadne. It means a lot to me," he said, and started to stand up.

"Arthur, wait," she called after him. He stopped and turned around.

"Yes?" he asked.

"What should I wear?" she asked. Arthur turned around.

"Something nice. It's an..elaborate restaurant," He hinted gently. Looking down slightly, he added, "but…I'm sure you'll look lovely in whatever you wear," he told her, and started to walk away. She smiled to herself and bit her lip, basking in the glow of the compliment that Arthur had given her.

The rest of the day passed slowly. Ariadne spent most of it worrying about the dinner date with Arthur's mother. To keep herself from thinking about it she worked intensely on her most recent model, and before she knew it, it was time to leave. In fact, she wouldn't have noticed the time if she didn't feel Arthur's hand on her shoulder.

"I'm going to go. I'll pick you up around 7, if that's alright," he told her. She turned her gaze away from her work and faced him.

"Okay. I'll see you tonight," she replied, and watched as he left. She sighed, and cleaned up the rest of her space. Wordlessly, she waved goodbye to Cobb and walked out the door. It was 5:30 now, which gave her about an hour and a half before Arthur arrived to pick her up. She drove home in the rain, which had just started falling. Despite the grey clouds that had hung ominously throughout the whole day, the rain hadn't decided to fall until just now, a fact that Ariadne resented as she hadn't brought an umbrella with her that morning. When she finally arrived home, she ran through the rain to enter her building, and rode the elevator up in silence.

By the time she was safely alone in her house, it was 6. That gave her one hour to get ready completely. She walked into the bathroom and examined her face. The make-up she had applied that morning was rubbing off and the redness that lined her nose and cheeks was showing through. Her hair was frizzy from the rain, and hung limply at her shoulders. With a sigh, she turned on the hot water in the shower. There was a lot of work to be done if she wanted to be presentable to Arthur's mother.

* * *

At 7'oclock, almost on the dot, Arthur drove up to Ariadne's apartment building. He parked his car and took a deep breath before walked into the building. The rain had let up by then, but deep puddles lay by the sidewalks, and Arthur had to step over one in order to stay dry. He walked in and took in the environment in which Ariadne lived. It seemed like a nice enough apartment building. He noted to himself that it wasn't quite as extensive as the one in which he lived. However, it suited Ariadne nicely.

He rode the elevator up, lost in his thoughts. His mother was known for her judgmental disposition. She had never been the loving kind, and it seemed like the only thing she ever did when she was around him was judge. He hated to subject Ariadne to her. Nothing would be safe from his mother's sharp opinions.

As he rang her doorbell, he had the smallest fleet of a worry that Ariadne wouldn't have dressed formally enough. The thought however, disappeared as the door opened. She stood in front him in a knee length black dress that framed her well. A single necklace dangled from her neck, just large enough to add some brightness to the dark dress. The sleeve came to her upper arm, and her hair rested just below her shoulders. She had straightened it, and it made her look elegant. He couldn't speak for a few moments. He had never doubted Ariadne's beauty before, but tonight she looked more than beautiful. She looked stunning, refined and…truly gorgeous. Her smile completed the look, and her whole face lit up when she saw Arthur at the door. Somewhere, a voice in the back of his head told him that he wanted to lean forward and kiss her cheek. He didn't though, and simply listened as she spoke.

"Hey! I'm glad you're here, I hope this is alright. Is it too casual?" she asked. He couldn't stop from grinning slightly at the sight of her, at her worried tone.

"You look…beautiful," he told her, allowing himself to smile. She smiled again too.

"Thank you. I was pretty anxious," she chuckled.

"Well you didn't need to be," he told her, and held out his arm. She smiled and took it, closing the apartment door behind her.

As they walked to the car, Ariadne took in Arthur. She was used to seeing him in suits, but tonight he wore a grey tuxedo. His hair was still slicked back as usual, but it looked nicer tonight for some reason. He smelled the same, except with a hint of cologne. It wasn't overpowering but it was enough that Ariadne wanted to lean into him and breath his scent She didn't, of course. She did however keep her grasp on him until they got to the car. He let her in first, and then walked around to the other side to slide into the car.

"So I was meaning to ask you. How…close does your mother think we are?" she asked him as he put his keys in the ignition and revved the engine.

"I just told her that my girlfriend would be joining us for dinner. She probably expects more than what she'll get," he told her. Ariadne smiled.

"Well we should give her what she wants," he suggested. He looked at her briefly, and would have stared if he didn't have to keep his eyes on the road. She continued. "If she expects us to be in love, we'll pretend. But that means that you're going to have to kiss me," she spoke. Arthur couldn't be sure if she was speaking more to him or herself. He nodded regardless.

"Yes, I suppose so," he replied.

"And you should probably hold my hand," she added, running through a mental list of things that couples did.

"Of course," he answered back. Finally she sighed.

"Arthur, just…don't be afraid to get close. If we're going to pull this off...well, I'm sure you've had a girlfriend before. You know how you just…touch, without thinking about it? When one of us speaks, the other needs to look at them with love in their eyes. We need to complement each other too." She instructed. He nodded. In truth, Arthur had indulged in various flings, but he couldn't say that he'd ever had a girlfriend. Arthur was indeed a man, and sometimes enjoyed the pleasure of a woman. His style was, however, one of first dates that ended in bed, and then ended all together. He really couldn't afford much more than that in the particular job he found himself in. He had never experienced having true feelings for a woman. This worried him now that Ariadne had brought it up.

"I'm sure that we'll be fine," he told her, and admittedly, himself. She raised her eyebrows.

"Arthur…I don't mean to impose but…look at you. You're so tense. You need to relax. We should take this opportunity to get closer. Here, take my hand," she told him. She held her hand out to him, and he took it hesitantly.

"Oh come on Arthur. It's like you've never done this before. Here, like this," she said. She pulled their hands apart and guided his hand so that their fingers interlocked. They sat that like for a few seconds.

"That's good. But, you should try moving your fingers. Use your thumb to stroke mine. And then I'll use my thumb to rub your finger. There, that's good," she complimented him. He continued to stroke her thumb. He saw her smile softly.

"That's nice," she almost spoke the words so quiet that he couldn't hear, but still he did. Abruptly, snapping out of her daze, she blinked a few times and sat up again.

"Now, you should probably call me Ari. All of my friends do, it would make sense for you to," she told him.

"Ari," he spoke, testing the word. She nodded. He nodded himself. They were silent for the rest of the ride, until they got to the restaurant. They parked, and Ariadne waited for Arthur to unlock the car. He didn't at first, but sighed and then started to speak.

"Ariadne, you should know that my mother…is incredibly judgmental. She'll find something about anything to complain about. And I'm sorry that I'm asking this of you. If there's anything I can do to make it up to you, please just…" he tried but he stopped when Ariadne put a hand on his shoulder.

"Arthur, if I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't be. It's fine," she told him with a smile. He nodded, and sighed again. He unlocked the car and they got out. Before Arthur could start walking, Ariadne grabbed his hand.

"Are you alright?" she asked him. He nodded.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked her.

"Because you're so stiff. Relax, it's alright," she told him. She took his hand, and started to rub her thumb over his this time. He took deep breaths.

"That _is_ very calming," he agreed. She smiled. They walked through the night and were silent until they reached the door. Arthur made a move to go in, but Ariadne's hand pulled him back.

"We should get this over with now. Arthur, kiss me." She spoke hurriedly, anxiety pulsing through her.

"I have kissed you before, Ariadne," he reminded her. She rolled her eyes.

"Arthur, kiss me like I'm your world," she told him, putting it as eloquently as she could. His eyes widened and returned to normal almost instantaneously. He took a breath, and leaned forward. She followed suit. Their lips touched, and he was left dazed by the softness of hers. He couldn't think, but was aware of her lifting his hand and putting it around her waist so that he could draw her closer. She wrapped her hands around his neck and danced her fingers around the bare skin. It sent shivers through him. The shivers opened his mouth and she slipped in her tongue, happy for the advantage.

When enough time had passed, she removed her hands and parted her lips from his. His face was slightly bewildered, and hers was blank, if not slightly confused.

"That…will convince your mother." She told him. He nodded, thinking to himself that it had almost convinced him. She fiddled with her hair for a second before finally dropping her hand for him to take in his, the proper way, and they walked into the restaurant, both of them more befuddled than they had been before.


	2. The Meeting

Disclaimer- I do not own Inception

A/N- Here's chapter 2! Chapter 1 got a lot of response, but I've had a significantly greater amounts of favs and alerts than I have reviews. Reviews help me to know what you all like and what I should change. So please review you all! I really hope you like chapter 2!

PS- Just wanted to explain something. You'll find out later in this chapter that Arthur's mother knows at least generally what Arthur's job really is. I could have had him lie about it, but I felt like they played dream sharing in the movie as almost something that was becoming more common that more people than just Cobb were involved in, so I didn't want him to lie about it. You might feel like he should have, but it doesn't play that big of a role in the story, so I didn't feel like it was too big of a deal. Also, I apologize if anyone is OOC in this :D

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Cautiously, they walked into the lobby and Ariadne immediately began to search the crowd for people who could be Arthur's mother. In her head, she had disillusioned herself into believing that when she saw his mother, it would be obvious. But here, in the midst of all the people, she was reminded that she had no idea what Arthur's mother looked like and wouldn't until Arthur pointed her out.

This thought suddenly shook her confidence. She didn't know Arthur's mother. She didn't know Arthur's father, or even if he had one. She didn't truly know anything about the man that she was claiming to be in a relationship with. She worried, but the grip that he had on her hand comforted her. She could only hope that prior knowledge of Arthur, or lack thereof, would not affect the meeting.

Finally she felt Arthur squeeze her hand. She looked at him and he pointed with his free hand at a woman who was walking foreword to meet them. She was stunning, of course. Just like Arthur, she dressed elegantly, and even though her black pleated dress was relatively simple, she wore it with silver dangling earrings and an air of pride that made the whole outfit look like it was extravagant. She wore a black jacket also that complimented the look. She styled her hair so it curled gently, and hung just below her ears. It was the same color as Arthur's, dark brown. Her lips were a deep shade of red, and the only way to describe her was beautiful.

"Arthur darling, how are you?" she asked as she also pulled him into a hug and kissed his cheek. He returned the kiss on her cheek.

"Hello mother," he replied with a slight smile. She grabbed his arm and turned her gaze towards Ariadne.

"Is this her?" she asked. Arthur turned his gaze to follow his mother's and then smiled again.

"I'm sorry, Mother, this is Ariadne." He spoke, and gestured toward her. His mother stepped forward and extended a hand.

"It's lovely to meet you. I'm Valerie," She said and shook her hand.

"I'm Ariadne," she replied, and smiled. Valerie smiled back, and the three began to walk to their table. Arthur and Ariadne walked next to each other and their hands continued to intertwine. The simple act calmed Ariadne significantly. Finally they sat down at the table and picked up their menus.

"Arthur, I see that you've done something different with your hair," she noted with a hint of disapproval in her voice.

"Yes, I did," he replied. She studied him for a few more seconds.

"Hmm," she uttered and went back to looking at her menu. To her side, Ariadne could hear Arthur sigh. She turned to look at him and he simply gave her a small smile as if to say, "it's okay, I'm used to it," She gave him a smile as well and then continued to pick her dinner.

No one said a word until the waitress came and took their order. Once they were all settled, they began to talk. His mother started off the conversation.

"Your father asks about you all the time, Arthur. And I can't ever tell him anything because you never call!" she complained.

"I'm sorry Mother, but you know how busy I am," he told her. She rolled her eyes.

"Of course. You're always so busy with all that illegal work that you're up to. Honestly, why do you waste your time at that dead end job of yours? You could have been a doctor like your father." She lectured. Ariadne tried not to show her resentment. Mothers were supposed to support and praise, not degrade and criticize. She held her tongue, however.

"We do very important work at this job. I probably could have been a doctor, but that lifestyle didn't happen. Can we drop it now?" He snapped. He spoke in an annoyed tone and his words sounded rehearsed. It seemed to Ariadne that this was a speech routinely given. Still, his mother looked none too happy. Sighing, she sipped from her water glass.

"Maybe Ariadne can talk you out of it. She seems to have a reasonable head on her shoulders. Ariadne, dear, what is it that you do?" she asked. Ariadne bit her lip and turned to look at Arthur. Should she be honest with his mother, or would it be better to lie? He gave her a slight nod, so she assumed that the truth would be best.

"We actually work for the same people. I'm his teammate," she revealed. She tried to keep her voice light, hoping that Valerie wouldn't know how worried she was. She watched the disappointed look on his mother's face reappear.

"Oh, I see," she stated coldly. If Ariadne had sat forward at all during the meal, she sat back down in her seat now, trying to disappear quietly into the background. Without warning, she felt his hand on hers again.

"Ariadne is the best architect we've ever had. Her skill is impeccable, and we're very lucky to have such an amazing talent." He spoke. Ariadne turned to face him. He turned away from his mother's gaze and met hers.

"And I'm very lucky to have such an amazing woman," he concluded, and smiled. She smiled too and he kissed her. She had to contain the joy that pulsed through her. The only thing that could do that was the remembrance that Arthur was only pretending, that though his words were lovely, they weren't true. His mother observed the whole scene critically, and said nothing for a few minutes. Ariadne felt like she should say something, but nothing came to her. Arthur still held her hand and the moment felt like it needed no words.

At that moment their drinks arrived. After the waiter left, they all took a sip, and finally the conversation rejuvenated itself. They talked for a few minutes about harmless things, like where she went to college, hobbies and whatnot. She told his mother that she spoke French fluently.

"That's lovely, dear! I taught Arthur myself when he was a boy. I studied in France when I was just about your age," she relayed, seemingly happy to tell the story to someone. Ariadne listened to her. She spoke with the air of confidence that Arthur had sometimes been known to use. It was fascinating to see where he got all the little quirks that made him up as a person. Shortly after, the conversation switched to the topic of his mother's country club. She noticed Arthur tense and was aware that this must have been another topic that caused friction.

"I keep telling my friends about my charming son, but they've never met him before. I can't understand why you refuse to come down to the club with me. It would be so lovely, you could play golf with some of the other boys that come," she encouraged. Ariadne smiled to herself. The thought of Arthur in checkered pants and a shirt to match was laughable. He also didn't strike her as someone who would have the patience for golf.

"Mother you know that I'm not a very big sports person," he offered. Ariadne wondered if his mother knew about all the things that her son did inside of dreams. Would his not playing golf seem any less significant if she knew that he was constantly fighting off projections and shooting people for the sole purpose of waking them from a dream? She thought that was probably best kept to herself.

"Well regardless, you should still come and join me for one of our monthly dinner. I'm sure the club would love for you to bring Ariadne," she added. Arthur looked at her and she shrugged.

"I think that it would be a really great time," Ariadne offered. Arthur nodded.

"Maybe Ari and I will go next time," he remarked, using the nickname she had suggested. His mother looked him over once.

"Of course, it would be an evening dinner. So you'd need to get a black suit. Black is, after all, the nighttime suit color," she informed. Both Ariadne and Arthur took note of the grey suit that he was wearing tonight. Ariadne sipped from her drink again. He simply nodded.

"Of course," he replied, hoping to divert her from talking about it anymore.

Their dinner arrived short afterward, and they ate in silence for a few minutes. Finally, Arthur spoke.

"How's Dad?" he asked. The topic was one of interest to Ariadne because she really knew nothing of Arthur's father. She could tell that the subject was not a pleasant one by the way his mother sat up straight.

"Oh you know your father. Still wasting time with that tramp of a girlfriend of his. I see him at the club sometimes; can you believe that he still had the gall to show up there? He just loves to show her off. Well you know, he's doing well for himself I suppose," she finished, and took a bite of her salad. Ariadne looked over to Arthur. He was looking down at his dinner. Divorce, she thought to herself. She considered herself lucky to still have both parents together, but she had never imagined that Arthur's family would have divorced. When she thought about it, she had always pictured Arthur as almost more than human, as a sort of super-human machine of efficiency. She had never stopped to realize that he was a normal person, and as such had a life beyond Inception, which was just like everyone else's.

"Ariadne, what do your parents do?" Valerie asked her. Ariadne looked up from her own thoughts.

"My parents are high school teachers," she answered honestly. His mother gave a fake smile.

"How…quaint," she hinted at her disapproval. Ariadne bit her lip and went back to dinner.

"You know Arthur, Veronica still goes to our club. She's been asking about you," his mother remarked. He dropped his fork.

"Mother," he warned.

"Who's Veronica?" Ariadne asked.

"No one," Arthur answered.

"Oh nonsense, Arthur. Veronica was Arthur's last girlfriend. They were so wonderful together, a handsome couple. He ended it because of this job, however. And now…he's with you," she said mockingly, a faux happiness tainted her voice. Ariadne tried to keep the hurt to herself. Arthur picked his napkin up off his lap and set it next to his plate.

"Yes Mother. Now I'm with Ariadne, so we can stop talking about Veronica," he insisted.

"Yes, of course. You've obviously decided to try someone…different than your normal type. I'm sure that it will be wonderful for you two while it lasts," She said with a dagger behind her smile. At this, Arthur stood up. He grabbed Ariadne's hand and urged her to stand also.

"Mother, you can put me down all you want. You can complain and control to your heart's desire, but you don't have a right to say anything about Ariadne. I'm sorry that you can't see how wonderful she is, but I love her. And you're just going to have to live with that," he said angrily, and walked away, Ariadne's hand still in his. His mother stood up to protest but they were out of the restaurant before she could catch up to them.

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A/N- Yay chapter 2! Arthur's mother was an amusing character to write so I hope that you all enjoyed her! PLEASE review to let me know your opinion of her. Also, reminding you all that I have that last chapter already written so I juts need to update it. But I'm going to wait until I have 20 reviews because I want to know the overall response for this chapter before uploading the next one. Anything in this chapter I should change, should I add in anything else? I'll wait to see! Thank you all!

PS- Saw Inception for the 5th time today. LOVE IT SO MUCH. Inspiration has hit me again, so look out for another possible story soon!


	3. Repercussions

Disclaimer- I DO NOT OWN INCEPTION!

A/N- Hello everyone! Chapter 2 got AMAZING responses, and I'm so happy for that! Thank you thank you thank you! A lot of you said that you were excited to see Ariadne's reaction, so I really hope that you all enjoy this! I'm not quite sure about the idea, I really like it and I hope you all do too! Reviews are always greatly appreciated!

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He walked briskly to the car and got in. Ariadne opened her door and sat the passenger seat. They were still for a few seconds, neither saying anything. Arthur held his head in his hands, trying to calm himself.

"Arthur…" Ariadne tried to say something, but he stopped her.

"I can't talk about it right now," he blurted, and started the car. He drove fast, and in the opposite direction of her house. She didn't know where he was going, but she didn't ask. He drove for a few minutes before he pulled into an abandoned parking lot and took a deep breath.

"Ariadne…I'm so sorry. I never should have made you come. Do you want me to take you home?" he asked her. She didn't have to think about the answer.

"No, not when you're so obviously upset," she said. He looked at her.

"It's fine," he said sharply. She put a hand over his.

"No, it's not," she replied. He sighed.

"I hope that you don't believe anything that my mother said. She's…a bitter woman who feels the need to control every aspect of my life, which apparently includes who I spend my time with. She crossed the line tonight. There was no way that I was just going to sit there and let her talk like that about you," he said, getting angrier by the second. Finally, his anger bubbled up to the surface and he brought a fist down on the steering wheel. Ariadne flinched slightly, but regained composure shortly.

"Your mother just wants the best for you. She loves you," she offered, hoping to make him feel better.

"That doesn't excuse what she said about you," he argued.

"Arthur…remember, I'm not actually your girlfriend. It's alright," she reminded him.

"Does that make it better? I'm supposed to forgive her for insulting you and your family just because you aren't actually my girlfriend?" he asked. Ariadne could tell that she wasn't doing a very good job of calming him.

"Arthur, I know mothers. You have to believe me when I tell you that I don't care about what she said," Ariadne spoke truthfully. He looked her straight in the eyes.

"Maybe I do," he spoke with chilling sincerity.

"You don't have to…" she almost whispered, looking down, unsure of what to say.

"Well I do. I care about you Ariadne," he declared. She looked up again.

"I care about you too. That's why I came tonight, and that's why I'm not leaving," she explained to him.

"Thank you," he said, now unsure of what to say himself.

"It seems like you and your mother have some definite problems to work out," she urged, hoping she could get him to talk about it. He was silent for a few moments.

"She's always been very judgmental. I can't remember a time when she's ever told me that she was proud of me. It doesn't really matter, I don't need approval from my mother anymore," he recalled.

"It's still nice," she added. He nodded, and continued.

"I grew up with an intense need to please her. When Dad left, I felt like it was my fault. There was never anyone there to tell me that it wasn't," he revealed. Ariadne put a hand to his cheek and turned his head so that he looked at her.

"Arthur, your parents' divorce wasn't your fault," she declared. He smiled weakly.

"Thank you. But you're about seventeen years too late," he replied.

"It's never too late to right a wrong," she insisted. He chuckled quietly.

"The issue with my mother…is a little deeper than just what shows on the surface." He started, and with a breath, continued. "Have you ever heard of Atychiphobia?" he asked her. She shook her head slowly. He began again. "It's the irrational fear of failure," he explained. She didn't say anything, but she could tell that a metaphorical wall had just crumbled. A tension that had hung in the air seemed to evaporate. She had since removed her hand from over his, but she replaced it now. Finally, she found her words.

"Do…you have that?" she asked. She was aware that her words sounded childish and too simple, but they were the words that felt right to say. He nodded.

"I was diagnosed with it when I was 12," he offered. The silence echoed through the car and rattled around Ariadne's head, making it hard to focus.

"I'm…sorry. That…must be awful," she concluded. Words seemed superfluous now so she just rubbed his hand with her.

"It's…not too horrible. It's an inconvenience, but I've learned to live with it. It's part of the reason that I became a Point Man. Fear of failure turned me into somewhat of a perfectionist, if you couldn't tell. It's best to be in a job that demands perfection," he shared. She pondered this. It would make sense. The way he was always obsessing over every little detail, how he never tried anything new unless he was sure that he would be good at it, and especially the precision in which he did everything that he did. She looked back on Inception, remembering all the things that he had done to prepare. Her mind scanned through all the memories that she had, and she remembered one specific thing that had gone wrong.

"During Inception…what about Fischer? He had been trained. Cobb was so angry…" she drifted off, thinking that it might have been a stupid thing to say. He managed a small grin.

"That was a mistake. One of the few I've made at this job, and hopefully one of the last," he objected. Something about the way that Arthur spoke the words and the look in his eyes while he said them gave her an idea of how much the mistake had affected him, how much he had beaten himself up over it. She moved her hand to his shoulder.

"Arthur…mistakes are a part of us. The only way we can succeed is to fail. You shouldn't be afraid to fail," she tried, but it was clear that he'd heard her speech before.

"I know," he replied. She wanted to say something meaningful, something to help him know that it was alright. But she had no words to give. He spoke again.

"It's not the fear that hurts…it's the things that fear makes me do. I spend so much time trying to live up to everyone's expectations. My mother's, Cobb's…" he trailed off here, and for once, Ariadne could honestly say that Arthur seemed at a loss for words, he was too caught up in his thoughts.

"What about your own?" Ariadne blurted, half thinking to herself, not expecting the words to actually come out.

"What?" he asked, confused by the question that wasn't supposed to be asked. But now that it was out there, Ariadne decided that it had needed to be addressed.

"You live up to everyone else's expectations, but what about your own expectations? Are you who you want to be?" she asked him. He looked at her with mild confusion, as though no one had asked him the question before.

"I don't know…" he revealed. He seemed far away. She placed a hand on his knee to bring him back to reality but moved it when he actually looked at her.

"What do you want your life to be, Arthur? What do **you** want?" she asked him. Again, he looked distant, as thought he was somewhere else and not here in the car with her. Finally, after a few seconds of nothing, he spoke.

"I want…to do this," he informed her, and leaned forward to place his lips on hers for just a second, long enough to leave the ghost of a specific taste but much too short for her to react and kiss him back. He drew away from her and there was a look of discomposure of his face.

She smiled softly and surreptitiously licked her lips to gain the last lingers of him. Finally, when she had gotten all that she would, she moved closer to him and pressed her lips against his. She deepened the kiss a little more this time, and just as he was about to intensify it, she pulled away, teasing him just a little. She wore a sly little smile on her face and he had a confused and needy look on his. It was quickly wiped away as he regained composure. This time they both leaned forward and his hands pulled her closer to him.

The silence that had filled the car broke now, the blood pumping in both their heads was loud enough. In reality, the car was still quiet except for the sound of lips meeting and parting and the small moans that they both gave off. The longer they stayed together, bodies against bodies, the deeper their kisses grew. Ariadne was fully out of her seat now, seated on Arthur's lap. Her legs twisted with his and their bodies rose and fell together. Finally, they could take no more and parted. Ariadne collapsed against his chest, both of them panting. His hand was around her waist, even thought they were no longer kissing. She hugged his torso and he hugged in return.

"Thank you, Ariadne," he breathed. She couldn't speak, but nodded against his chest. She wasn't sure if he was talking about the kiss or the advice she had offered, but it didn't matter.

A few minutes later, they were both in their own respective seats, hands interlocked, and driving down the highway, on their way to Ariadne's apartment building. They were silent until they drove up to her home. Both of them got out and walked to the door.

"I'm glad that you came tonight," he told her. She smiled.

"Me too," she agreed. He leaned to her and gave her a small kiss before hugging her.

"Goodnight," he bade her, and she waved as he started to walk away.

"Goodnight!" she called back and he waved from his car. She smiled to herself as he drove off. She walked the path to the elevator and waited patiently until she arrived at her floor. She got out and trudged to her door, opening it silently. Her cat greeted her at the door as usual, and she petted it. Before doing anything else she changed from her dress into sweats, and removed the make-up that clung to her face. She laughed at the mess that was her hair, mussed up from all the times that Arthur had run his fingers through it. Her lipstick was smeared now, and most of it was gone anyway. She marveled at how much time she had put into looking wonderful for tonight, and how Arthur had sabotaged her attempts to stay looking nice. Once she was all done in the bathroom, she scooped up her cat and plopped down on her bed. Picking up the cat and placing it on her chest, she simply announced,

"You will not believe the night that I had tonight,"

* * *

A/N- Okay! That's chapter 3! From the responses from chapter 2, a lot of you want **1.)** more of Arthur's mother and **2.)** to meet Veronica. So I have decided that I will write an epilog chapter in which both of these requests will be filled. Also, I got a review recently that berated me for asking for a certain amount of reviews per chapter. Personally, I see how that might be annoying to some people but that's how I like to space out chapter uploads and I also like to make sure that people enjoy the story before adding more. Anyway, in order to please the people that don't like authors who do that I won't ask for a certain number of reviews before I upload again but I will say this. I haven't written the next upload so I would LOVE reviews because they really do help me to write faster and also please review with your ideas about how Veronica should act because frankly I haven't planned anything. Alright, thank you all for everything!


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